Captain Fantastic, Reginald Kenneth Dwight

Sir Elton John (b. 1947)

If I told you Donica buys concert tickets and then plans her trips around them, it would be mostly true! Case in point: she returned from Europe on Friday so that the next day, last evening, we could make it to Elton John's Peachtree Road concert at Philips Arena here in Atlanta. (Peachtree Road, btw, is one of Atlanta's most famous streets and the album is his tribute to the South.)

Philips Arena seats 21,000 for concerts and first opened its doors on 9/24, 1999, for Elton John's Solo concert, which we attended. In fact, in our 8 years together, Donica and I have been to 6 of his concerts here in Atlanta, 4 of them at Philips. And every concert, of course, was sold out.

That's my history of Elton John. I didn't grow up on him, like Donica did. I didn't see him during his drug/booze-crazed years. During Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy years 30 years ago. I can't mouth the words of every song he's ever sung, like she and the rest of the concert-goers can. ('Course, I remind her that I can mouth the words to as many hymns, if not more.)

But maybe that's why I love him all the more! There are times when listening to him is a spiritual experience for me and I get tears in my eyes. Sometimes the tears are for so much of what I missed growing up in a preacher's home.

I was particularly moved last night when he introduced his My Elusive Drug by saying he's clean, no longer drug/booze crazed (to loud applause!). Instead, he has found love and has been committed to his partner for 12 years (again to loud applause). He didn't mention this but I read the other day that he and David Furnish will legally wed before Christmas after the UK allows same-sex civil unions on December 5th. Bravo for him and them.

At almost 60, Elton's energy is probably more robust than ever, even if in a more mellow way (is that possible?). Every concert is 3 solid hours of him on stage -- no warm-up act -- without intermission or breaks for him. And at the end, he appears as though he's just starting. What an amazing man.

Knowing Donica, we'll go to every Elton John concert we can before we're dead and buried. (It helps that he lives part-time here in Atlanta!) My guess is that they'll only get better and better as we all mellow out together.